I Want To Save Their Light
by MadCheshire
Summary: AU: Castiel Novak, an artist, finds his neighbor Dean Winchester's looks hard to capture on canvas and has a small crush on the guy, even though he might not admit it. After Dean gets dumped at the restaurant Castiel works at, their non-existent relationship takes a surprising turn. Destiel
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Another Destiel I ended up starting ^^'' It's not going to be that long though, 5 chapters or so.**

* * *

I was settled comfortably on the sofa, my legs folded very close to my upper body and a canvas stuck between them. My pencil traced his facial structure carefully, those green eyes that had just the right hint of brown in them flashed in my mind as I finished sketching them. I leaned back to see my work completely and I was actually rather pleased with the outcome. "Isn't that your neighbour you've been crushing on?"

I lifted my head to see Balthazar peeking from above the canvas, a small smirk creeping on his lips. I felt my face redden. Balthazar, being one of the few people close to me, had more than once seen me steal quick glances at my neighbour called Winchester, at least according to the name on his mailbox. Balthazar insisted that I 'fancied' him, but to me, he was just another pretty-face with fascinating features. Another challenge to paint. "I don't have a crush on him." I groaned and swung my feet to the floor.

"Oh, so you're not starting your third painting of him?" Balthazar said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He wasn't wrong there, it really was the third one. I wasn't happy at all with the first two paintings, I just couldn't get the little details right. I never got the eyes to be the right shades or his nose was too small or his jaw was too pointy. I could name endless amount of mistakes I made and I could name dozen more every time I saw him again.

I walked to the wall where the two earlier paintings were and left the canvas next to them. "I can't seem to get him right." I said while stepping back to compare the three works. "I think I still have to work on the sketch before I start painting."

Balthazar threw himself on the sofa while eyeing the paintings. "You totally don't seem obsessive right now." He commented, to which I gave him a glare. He avoided it with a shrug. "Isn't your shift starting in half an hour?" He asked, but actually didn't seem to care. I guessed he wanted to borrow my apartment for something again.

"Yeah. I'm just going to change clothes and then head to work." I crossed my arms across my chest and looked knowingly at Balthazar. "What do you want this time?"

Balthazar laughed. "You know me too well Castiel" I rushed past him to the bathroom, but continued to listen. "I just wanted to spend some time with few friends. You know my place is too small." I wondered how many he meant with few. I decided not to ask, but I didn't even want to know what Balthazar's concept of spending time consisted of.

I shrugged, though Balthazar probably didn't see it, and proceeded to poke my eye with a finger to get on my contacts. "As long as you're gone by 1 am. I want to sleep after my shift." I blinked a few times, letting my eyes get used to the lenses. Running my fingers through my hair couple times, I tried to get the unruly curls to look okay before I went back to Balthazar.

"Why you must wear contacts? You look better with glasses." He commented as he leaned against the back of the sofa.

"I prefer contacts, it's more convenient." I answered, totally ignoring his opinion. I headed into my room, getting off my sweats and baggy t-shirt and replacing them with nicely fitting jeans, a shirt that was actually my size and throwing a warm cardigan on top. "You better not destroy anything." I reminded Balthazar while heading to the door.

Balthazar flashed his smile at me, which I ignored like always. "I promise I won't." He said and turned his attention back to his phone, probably texting a friend. "Oh yeah, I was asked to look for artists for a gallery opening next month. Would you be interested?"

I stared at Balthazar in surprise. "Sure, I haven't sold any of my paintings in a while so extra income would be nice."

"Great, I'll send you the info later." He said before his phone took his attention again.

With a sigh, I left my apartment.

* * *

"Welcome to Heaven. May I take your order?" I said with a cheery smile on my face. 'Heaven' was the restaurant I worked at, one of the most popular ones in the town actually. It was definitely on the fancier side, but not overly-expensive, so it was a popular place for dates. Though that was the fact I hated about the place: it was always filled with lovers.

"Dean? Is something wrong?" The woman from the pair I was serving said unsurely. I turned my attention to the man, Dean, and met a pair of impossibly perfect, but still familiar green eyes.

My body froze all over. It was that freaking Winchester staring at me and by the looks of it, he definitely recognized me too. "Do I know you from somewhere?" He said, even though he pretty much probably already realised that he knew me from somewhere. I felt a sudden urge to run and wasn't quite sure why.

I nodded, my smile reducing to a quite awkward one. "Actually, I'm your next-door-neighbour." A blush spread to my face. I never actually expected to talk to him. He was just another pretty-face from next door. "My name is Novak. And I- uh- I usually wear glasses. We've said hello maybe few times."

Winchester smiled in realisation. "Oh yeah, I remember you!" Then he noticed his confused partner and the fact that he was a customer in a restaurant seemed to come back to him. "Back to business." He laughed as he took the menu and eyed it for a second. I took their orders before I headed to the kitchen to give them forward.

"What was that about?" Gabriel said, grinning widely as he leaned against the counter.

I sigh and settled next to him while waiting for the cooks to finish the order. "_That_ my dear friend was my neighbour." I ran my fingers through my hair to get few loose strands away from my face. "I never expected to see him here. Didn't seem like the romantic type." I heard Gabriel snicker and I glared at him. "What?"

He made that all-knowing face he always makes. "Your neighbour as in the neighbour who you are secretly in love with?"

My eyes rolled automatically at that sentence. "You've been talking to Balthazar, haven't you?"

"Aw, come on Cassie! Don't go denying your feelings." Gabriel teased. This was honestly one of the times that I was very tempted to strangle Gabriel. "Let me guess, you're actually very jealous of that girl he's with?" I shot a deathly glare at my co-worker, who only continued to laugh.

Raphael called Gabriel and he jumped up, straightening his stature and taking the two plates into his hands. "I guess that's my cue." He said and gave me a quick wink. "Good luck with your crush, Cassie." He commented before heading out of the kitchen.

I felt anger boiling inside me and I threw a dishtowel at him. "I don't have a crush on him!" I barked, but all I could hear was the idiot's annoying chuckle as he disappeared from my vision. I slumped back on the counter and the pissed off mood slowly crept all over me. I did not understand why they assumed that I had a crush on Winchester. I wasn't gay, I had never in my life felt attraction towards another male. Well, it didn't change the fact that during my 24 living years I had been with only one woman, which was probably quite an achievement from someone my age.

Once I returned to the table with their orders, I only found Winchester sitting there with a disappointed look on his face. "Here is your order." I said, setting down the two plates on the table. Winchester glanced at me, muttering a small thanks before falling to an awkward silence. "Is everything alright?" I asked without realising.

His green eyes returned to me in surprise. His mouth gaped open for a while before the words escaped his lips. "She broke up with me." He complained and took a huge sip from the wine glass. "I guess she didn't like me as much as I liked her."

"Do you want me to take this away?" I asked, pointing at the salad that Winchester's date had ordered.

Winchester glanced at it before he lifted the serving off the table and handed it over to me. "Go ahead. And could you bring me another bottle?" He poured the last of the wine bottle to his glass and emptied it with one gulp.

"Certainly sir." I muttered before turning around in my heels.

"Just call me Dean." He answered and stuffed a piece of that steak he ordered in his mouth.

I nodded. "Alright, Dean it is."

* * *

"Castiel, I heard that customer is your neighbour?"

I spun around, seeing Anna's fiery red hair and remembered how much I had enjoyed painting that part of her. That vibrant colour was absolutely amazing against her pale skin. "Yes. What that has to do with anything?" I looked at Winches- Dean over Anna's shoulder. He surely had had too much to drink as he had hard time staying straight even on the chair.

Anna gave me an awkward smile, so I knew she had something to ask of me. "Apparently he came here by the car, but he clearly isn't in a condition to drive."

"So you want me to drive him home?" I frowned and crossed my arms. Sure, I did own a few favours to Anna, but driving Wi- Dean's car seemed like a bad idea. I knew he was overly protective of his -67 Impala, he apparently called it his 'Baby'. By what I had gathered, he rarely let anyone else drive it.

Anna rolled her eyes like the answer was obvious. "Duh, you're the best one for the job at the moment."

"Can't you just call a taxi for the guy? He can pick up his precious Impala tomorrow." I sighed, running my hand through my hair and blinked a few times. I was starting to get tired and it was about time I should take my contacts off.

Anna pulled me closer so she could whisper in my ear. "Why the hell are you refusing? Wouldn't this be a good chance to get closer your crush?" She poked to my side and I tried to get away, unsuccessfully. "Also, I would like to know why I heard about this from Gabriel."

"You didn't hear about it from me because 'it' doesn't exist." I hissed. Anna Milton, the hostess at our restaurant, had been a friend of mine since childhood. She had known every crush I had had, including the one I had on her when we were in high school. That one never lead to anything though because Anna had been dating someone else at the time. Still she was someone who I could always count on.

She chuckled, which actually was a bit suspicious. "Just, would you do it for me?" She begged and kissed on my cheek. "I promise I'll try to get you an extra day off this month if you need one. Even if you need it with short notice."

I wondered at the last sentence for a second before agreeing to her offer. "I expect for you to keep your word." I answered before I stomped towards bathroom to change back to glasses before leaving. I could hear Anna yelling her thanks from behind me, but I didn't answer.

Soon I returned to the restaurant's side and to my drunken neighbour. "Dean?" I called, shaking him softly out of his slight drowsiness. "I'll drive you home, come on." He lifted his green eyes to me and I saw his lips move, but I didn't hear what he said. With a sigh, I pulled Dean up but almost fell over in the process. "Alright, try to stay up now."

Somehow we made it to the Impala and I shoved Dean inside before going in myself. "Whoa, aren't you getting touchy so quickly." He slurred as I went through his pockets for the car keys. The flirty expression he was making made my heart jump, for some strange reason, but I ignored it and eventually found the keys.

The Impala roared alive and the noise it made eventually settled to an even purring. The corner of my mouth tugged into a smile as I admitted to myself that the car was actually quite nice. I liked the relaxing sound it made when I steered into the street. I maybe even slightly understood why Dean was so attached to his car.

It didn't take long to reach the parking lot of our apartment complex. When I turned off the motor, Dean's closed eyes opened and looked around, still half-asleep. "Hey, wake up. Wouldn't your own soft be better to sleep in?" I muttered, climbing out of the car. Dean followed, though stumbling with his feet. We headed to the elevator and I pushed the button to the right floor while Dean leaned against the wall. He looked like he was about to puke, but luckily he kept it inside.

Our apartments were at the end of the hall. First was Dean's, then mine right next to it. I stopped obviously at Dean's door and begun rummaging his pockets for the keys. "Seriously, what's with the sexual harassment?" Dean laughed and I blushed slightly.

Upon finding the stupid keys I quickly opened the door for him before I turned around to face Dean once more. "You'll survive by yourself from here on, right?" I asked. Instead of a reply, his lips crashed into mine and I felt like he swiped me off my feet as he gave me the most amazing, hottest and sloppiest kiss I probably had ever had. For god's sake, I even whined when our kiss broke.

I would have collapsed on the floor if it wouldn't have been for Dean's arms that had moved on my hips. "Good night." He breathed while his mouth still lingered close to mine before letting go of my body. "See you later." He said as he dragged himself into his apartment and closed the door.

I don't know how many minutes I stared at his door in awe after that, but I was sure about one thing.

I wanted him to do that again.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: You can't believe how happy you made me with your reviews! ;w; For awhile now, I've been really unsure about my writing, so getting reviews saying that the writing is good made me so glad! Thank you so much and I hope this chapter will be as good to you as the first one.**

**Oh, and I forgot to say in the previous chapter, but English is not my first language. Though I'm fairly fluent, I'm bound to have mistakes, but I hope they won't bother you much! (:**

* * *

With a coffee cup in my hand I settled in front of my laptop that I had turned on a few moments ago. It was barely 9 o'clock and I had crawled out reluctantly from my soft and warm bed on a Saturday morning because I had a shift at the restaurant starting in two hours. Before that I thought I would check the info Balthazar had sent me about that gallery opening.

It seemed like the basic stuff, they want one or two pieces from each artist, all wrapped around by the common theme. It was good enough for me, since I hadn't done any of these things in a long time. Yeah, just the basic stuff and maybe if I was lucky, someone would be interested in buying my painting.

I rolled down the email when my eyes found the set theme. I frowned and read it two or three times more before I snatched my phone and searched for Balthazar's name from the device's phonebook. "Do you know what time it is?" He moaned from the other end after a few rings. I had to admit, I felt strange enjoyment as I suspected that he was experiencing a major hangover.

"Morning sunshine," I laughed and took a sip from my coffee. "I'm _so_ sorry that I woke you up, but I have a question about that gallery opening."

I heard sheets rustling and Balthazar yawn. "I take it that you have read my email then?" I could imagine the playful grin spread on his face right now. I knew I should have asked more details first before agreeing. It was definitely strange that Balthazar asked me to participate in a gallery opening when I had barely gotten over with my artist's block. "What do you think about the theme?" He was so close to cracking up and we both knew it.

"Very funny Balthazar." I said in monotone voice. "'Heart's obsession?' That is really corny theme and you know it." I spun in the chair and for a second I caught a glimpse of the three paintings resting against the wall. "Has this something to do with Dean?" I questioned, finally stopping as nausea started to take over me.

"Dean?" Balthazar snickered and I remembered I had referred to him as 'Winchester' until now and I didn't even know his first name before yesterday. "Since when you have called him Dean?" He was barely holding back his laughter and I, on the other hand, was filled with embarrassment for my slip up.

I bit my lip, wondering how I should phase my sentences so I could avoid any more misunderstandings from Balthazar's side. "Since yesterday," I stated quietly. "He came to the restaurant on a date and I was serving as their waiter. Obviously, he had seen me so many times that he recognised me."

Balthazar was still chuckling and it honestly started to annoy me. "Yes, yes. I hope he won't be freaked out after he finds out about your obsession or that you have harboured feelings for him for quite a long time."

There was a knock at my front door, which surprised me as I wasn't expecting anyone coming by that morning. It wouldn't have been weird if it had been Balthazar, because his random visits were normal, but of course it couldn't have been him. "I don't 'harbour' any feelings for Dean." I sighed as I opened the door, the impossibly green eyes being the first thing I saw. "Dean." I muttered in confusion.

"I heard you the first time, there was no need to repeat," came Balthazar's comment from the phone.

"Sorry Balthazar. I'll call you back later." I said and hung up, turning my complete attention to Dean. I would have expected him to have a hangover too, but there he was standing and seemed to be completely fine. Though his hair was a complete mess and he wore clothes that were more casual than what he was wearing yesterday. "So, did you need something?" I leaned against the doorframe, trying to look as calm as possible while the previous night's kiss flooded into my mind.

Dean smiled and I thought how absolutely amazing he looked while smiling. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" He asked, glancing at the phone in my hand, which started ringing. It was just Balthazar trying to call me back, so I just disregarded the call and shook my head. "Okay. Look, I just thought I should repay you in some way. I must have been quite a pain in the ass for you last night."

I frowned and watched Dean fidget nervously. I wondered why he was doing that. "There's no need." I assured, looking him in the eye. "Besides, it was Anna, the hostess, who convinced me to do it after she heard I was your neighbour. I'll be getting an extra day off thanks to getting you home safely." I tucked my hands into my sweats' pockets and wondered if that would be enough to convince him that I didn't need to be repaid. I just wanted to have that non-existent relationship we had as neighbours.

"I want to." He assured, a sweet grin on his lips. "Tonight, you and me, burgers, my treat. I don't accept any objections." I tried to open my mouth, but Dean's finger moved to my lips to stop me. "I said I don't accept any objections."

I ran my fingers through my hair, sighing. "Fine. Can you come meet me at the restaurant after five? I have work today." I knew this is a bad idea, but it seemed like Dean was stubborn so I decided to comply.

His face brightened after I agreed. "Great! I'll pick you up at five then. I promise you'll get to eat the best burgers you've ever tasted." He seemed to head back to his apartment, but turned back before he made it. "I don't mean to be rude, but what was your first name again? I don't think I have heard it yet." I noticed a slight shade of red on his cheeks as he asked me.

I couldn't help but smile. "It's Castiel. Castiel Novak." I introduced myself. "I know it's quite weird name. My parents were religious and named me after an angel."

"I like it." Dean admitted and for some fucking reason, I was happy that he said so. "Well then, see you later."

With that, he was gone. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was already looking forward to our date. Except it wasn't a date. It was Dean showing his gratitude and maybe even trying to form a friendship, but definitely not that kind of relationship. I didn't even know why my brain wanted to think it as a date.

* * *

I couldn't believe how nervous I was. My shift had already ended about ten minutes ago. I had quickly changed back to my casual clothes and now sat at the restaurant's side, fiddling my phone in my hands.

"Castiel? Is everything alright?" Anna sat on the other chair and leaned closer to me.

I stared at her, my eyes narrowing and my head tilting slightly. "Yes. Why do you ask?" I'm immediately regretting that I told Dean to come pick me up from the restaurant. I should have just said that I'd go over to his place after work or something. Now I had to deal with Anna's and Gabriel's stupidly-knowing smirks once Dean would arrive.

"You're playing with your phone." Anna said, pointing at my hands. "You do that when you're nervous about something." Embarrassed, I glanced at my hands and then slipped my phone to my jeans' pocket. "Who are you waiting for?" She asked.

"N-No one!" I stuttered and like magic, Dean just happened to walk in at that moment.

He looked around the room before his eyes settled on me, the biggest grin spreading to his lips. Suddenly I remember how great it felt to be kissed by those lips. Oh god, how I wanted to throw all reason away and just grab that dark green canvas jacket of his and pull him into as amazing kiss, or even better, as the one from previous night. "Hey Castiel!" Dean exclaimed as he moved towards me. "Ready to go?"

I swallowed and looked at Anna, who now had that stupidly-knowing smirk I knew she would have, before facing Dean. "Hello Dean." I said, my voice low and hoarse. "And yeah, let's go." I jumped up from the chair and gave Anna a quick nod. "See you on Monday, Anna." With that, I headed towards the door with Dean and without looking back, I knew that Anna was already rushing to Gabriel.

It was somewhat nice, sitting in Dean's precious Impala, not to mention it was completely different when Dean was the one behind steering wheel. I had pushed myself as far as I could from Dean, focusing to the passing buildings and the classic rock that was blasting from the radio. "How was your day?" Dean asked, obviously trying to break the awkward air between us.

I shrugged. "Nothing special. It wasn't that busy because most of the customers come after four." I shifted my eyes from the window for a second and noticed Dean's frozen stare, sending somehow good-kind-of chills down my spine. "Dean-?" I said, clearing my throat. "Shouldn't you look at the road?"

Dean broke from his daze and turned his head to the road, embarrassed. "Ah, sorry." He muttered, quickly turning his head to his front. I kept examining him with my eyes, looking carefully at his facial structures and making notes of what I should still fix from my painting. The exact colour of his skin, hair, eyes, lips. I wanted everything to be the perfect match to the actual 'model'.

"Uh- We're here Cas." I jumped at the words, realising I had been staring at him for far too long. Dean looked slightly uncomfortable, but there still was a small, almost unnoticeable smirk on his lips.

"R-Right." I nodded before his words actually sank in. "Wait? Cas?"

Dean frowned. "Yeah. Cas as in short for Castiel. Sorry, you don't like it?" He rubbed his neck and looked to me. I might have imagined it, but I thought I saw slight uncertainty in his eyes. Of course, that was silly as from what I had gathered, Dean was one of the most confident people I had ever met.

I shook my head, still surprised by the new nickname. "It's fine. Cas is good." I can't help but smile. I actually liked 'Cas' better than 'Cassie' that Gabriel constantly used, along with Anna and Balthazar, who used it occasionally. Truth to be told, 'Cassie' made me sound like a girl in my opinion.

"Awesome. Come on then Cas." Dean said before slipping out of the car. I followed, taking in the new surroundings.

We were at a local diner called the Roadhouse. I had passed it a few times, but never actually went inside. It seemed like any other diner and as I hadn't actually heard from anyone how the food was there, it never had raised my interest. Once inside, Dean led me to a corner table with not so many people around us. A blonde, quite beautiful waitress soon came to our table. "Well, well, Dean. It sure has been a while you've had a male date." She chuckled.

Dean's face flushed to crimson colour while his hand travelled through his hair. "It's not like that Jo. This is my neighbour Castiel." He pointed to me, but I barely noticed it as I was too busy being stunned. I never had actually considered that Dean would be bi. Multiple times I had witnessed him returning to his place with beautiful girls, the kinds I never would have imagined getting myself. Still, I didn't recall any times I would have seen him with a man in that way. Even that previous night's kiss I had considered as a drunken joke.

The girl, apparently called Jo, rolled her eyes. "How does that make a difference?" My eyes travelled between Dean and Jo, being really confused by the situation. "So, what shall it be?" She straightened herself and lifted her pen on the small notepad she had.

"Two burgers, I'll have a beer and-" Dean's voice trailed off as he turned to me with a questioning look.

"I'll have a coke." I said and flashed a smile to Jo. She took our orders before taking off with the usual 'I'll be right back' promise. Silence fell between me and Dean, during which we kept glancing at each other, the obvious question lingering in the air. I didn't even know why I wanted to know it.

Eventual sigh from Dean broke our silence. "I hope-" He started, but swallowed his words. "I'm not making you uncomfortable am I? Because I swing both ways." He was uncertain again, this time I was sure of it. He swallowed and looked at me with those eyes that made my stomach fill with butterflies.

I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes. It was a habit I did when I was confused. "Why would I be uncomfortable? I don't care what gender you are attracted to." I was sincere. Despite being raised in a Christian family, I never saw anything wrong in gays or bisexuals, unlike my father. It could have had something to do with the fact that I wasn't exactly religious type though.

A relieved grin seemed to spread to Dean's face because of my words. "Awesome!" He exclaimed and oh god that smile of his was so perfect. I would have very much liked to have that mouth on mine again, to my own confusion. Somehow I found Dean's attraction to both sexes a good thing, even though I was very confused of my own sexuality at the moment, considering my constant urge to kiss Dean.

Jo returned with our orders. We didn't say anything before she left again, but I recognised the knowing smirk I saw Anna, Balthazar or Gabriel often have. She definitely thought there was something between me and Dean. Well, she might not have been completely wrong. "How about you?" Dean muttered right after Jo left.

"What about me?" I asked though I had a slight idea of what he meant.

"Are you attracted to men?"

I liked my lips, wondering what I should answer. I was rather scared to say that I was bi too, because I wasn't exactly sure about it, but I had to admit that I wasn't exactly straight either. "I'm- Uh-" I poured some coke to my suddenly dry throat and I guessed my nervousness was probably shining from me. "I'm straight." I said without thinking, immediately regretting it.

Dean nodded understandingly and took his burger from the plate. "Dude, you have to taste these burgers. They're the best thing I've ever tasted." Then he hungrily bit into the burger, letting out a pleased moan.

I curiously lifted my own burger and took a small bite of it first. Seriously, the taste was much, much better that I had expected and took another, much bigger bite. I noticed a smug look on Dean's face as I devoured the burger. "This is delicious!" I admitted, already halfway through it. "This makes me really happy."

Dean laughed. "I told you dude. Best ones in the world if you ask me."

I was soon finished with my burger, but still felt hungry. "Do you think I could order another one?" I asked, staring disappointedly at my now empty plate. I remembered I hadn't eaten anything else that day and the just eaten burger made me realise how hungry I actually was.

"Come on Cas. Leave some space for the pie." Dean laughed as he finished his own burger "It's really good. Ellen, Jo's mom, is seriously one of the best cooks I know."

"Sounds good." I hummed. The evening might not have been so bad I expected.


	3. Chapter 3

How many weeks it had been? Three? Maybe even four? I had no idea, but it seemed like a forever to me. Dean, me and the Roadhouse was a weekly thing now, our small greetings in the hallway had changed into quick conversations and we even had started hanging out at each other's places. Somehow Dean fucking Winchester had sneaked his way into my life and became an existence that was greater than some random pretty-face he used to be.

I had finally taken that extra day-off Anna had promised me, which I originally had planned to spend painting my piece for the gallery opening. My mind had disagreed and I ended up painting my fourth version of Dean, which had a different approach compared to the three others because of the image of slightly drunk Dean lying on my couch that had burned into my mind for good.

I heard four firm knocks and I scrambled up from my comfortable position on the sofa because obviously someone was at the door. The canvas I had been holding I left on the near table after checking that there wasn't any wet paint to ruin the surface. "Coming" I sighed to myself after another set of knocks. Upon opening the door I saw Dean and I smiled before realising that I had lost the track of time and was standing in front of him in my size-too-big t-shirt and sweats. On top of that my arms were covered in paint and I was wearing my glasses, being too lazy to change into contacts.

Through the glasses, I looked at Dean from head to toe. He wasn't wearing his normal get up either. Instead he was wearing an expensive looking black suit and a dark red shirt under it, but there was no tie. It seemed like he had rushed straight to my door after coming from work "I thought I was late, but apparently I'm not the only one who forgot to look at the clock." He laughed as he eyed at my rather embarrassing appearance.

"Sorry." I muttered, avoiding his perfect eyes. "Mind if I take a shower before we go? You probably want to change clothes too." I shifted backwards, ready to get away from Dean's sight. "I'll leave the door unlocked, just come in after you're done changing."

"Sure."

After Dean had disappeared into his apartment, I headed for the shower and disregarded my clothes into the laundry basket on the way. The warm water felt absolutely amazing and I would have wanted to stay under it for much longer. However, I didn't want to keep Dean waiting, so I proceeded to scrub the paint off my arms. It proved out to be a harder task than I had hoped, even though the paint was fresh. Finally my own skin colour revealed from under the spots and I proceeded to wash my hair quickly before I turned off the running water.

I dried my hair and body before I wrapped a towel around my waist. I then went to the bathroom door that led straight to my apartment's living room and peeked from it, only to see Dean spread on the sofa this time in his usual clothes. I swallowed before coming out, gathering up all my courage to walk past my crush– yes, a freaking crush I had barely come terms with– practically naked. "My apologies, did you wait long?" I barely got the words out of my mouth as I tiptoed into the room.

Dean turned around and his eyes widened once seeing me, apparently not expecting to see me without clothes. "O-Only few minutes." He stuttered, eyes falling to his hands. We were in that awkward silence for a while before I shook my head and went through the room to my bedroom.

I became overly-conscious about my looks every time I was going to see Dean. I wanted to look my best and it was in fact the stupid thing about my crush. I went through my closet, throwing rejected articles of cloth on my bed while deciding on what I should wear. I eventually decided on a light blue long-sleeved shirt with three buttons down from the collar. On top of it I chose a grey waistcoat that I left open and chose to wear a black pair of jeans that had that worn look on them.

Checking myself the last time on the mirror and being somewhat satisfied with what I saw, I headed back to Dean. I felt my mood already lighten, thinking about the coming time with Dean and my heart was practically jumping out of my chest with joy. "Let's go Dean." I said, stepping back into the room but immediately freezing.

"Did you do this Cas?" Dean breathed out, examining the canvas in his hands. I felt like I wanted to sink to the floor and a red colour of blush flushed through my face as I nodded. "It's amazing! I got to say, you've really well captured my amazing features." He joked and set the painting back onto the table. "Is there any finished works you could show me?"

I rolled my eyes at the glittering happiness that shined from Dean's face and pointed at a closet door in the corner of the room. "Over here." As I opened it and took few of my favourite paintings out, I thanked god that I had decided to leave my other versions of Dean in my own room.

The first one is a painting of the house I grew up in. On the outside it's the perfect suburban house, having the white fence and all. I remember the apple tree in the front yard I used to climb in, imagining I was an angel flying in the skies, along with Anna and Gabriel. I bit my lip at one of the few happy memories I have left of that house, rest of them being replaced by the yelling and fighting. My eyes drew to the certain places on the painting: The slowly peeling paint, the wilting leaves and a small lone kid, sitting in a swing, barely noticeable if you didn't know it was there. All the small hints of the anxiety I felt in that house, hiding under the flawless surface. "Cas, you're okay?" Dean whispered, looking to me with concerned eyes. I just shook my head, not able to produce any words.

The next two were not-so personal. An imaginative fairytale-ish forest I had painted for fun about a year back and another one with same feel to it, but portrayed a faceless fairy in the middle of it all.

The fourth one had a red-headed angel embracing another angel, dark haired with broken wings. The wings were twisted horribly while some of the feathers were torn away, showing the bony structure underneath. I swallowed, wondering what Dean thought about that one. The painting was from the time I was just recovering from my depression. Back then I seriously felt like shit and Anna was there to pull me up. That was also the time she got me the job at Heaven.

I hoped Dean would realise that this was me showing him one of the most personal things in my life in a way. Most of the paintings I was showing him had my soul in them. They were things I did in order to make the aching inside me stop, to pour all the bad feelings out. Dean was the first one to see them besides the three idiots I called my friends.

The last one is the worst for me and makes my heart jump to my throat. The dark shoulder-length curls, beautiful warm eyes and the sheet draped around her body. I used to adore that woman so much, but she had just left me. "Did you love her?" Dean asked and my head shot up. His eyes were still glued to the painting, a small smile lingering in the corner of his mouth. "It's somehow different from the others."

"It's that obvious, huh?" I chuckled and moved to sit on the sofa.

Dean sat next to me, the painting still in his hands. "It's not a bad thing." Dean mutters and his impossibly green eyes move to me. "These paintings of yours show what your true feelings are. It's just somehow transfers to the viewer, you know? Those two others are full of anxiety, but this one- I can't help but smile when seeing it."

I nodded, somewhat understanding what Dean meant. "Still-" I whispered, taking the painting from Dean's hands, looking at the curvy woman, who had her back to the viewer, peeking over her shoulder. "Now days, her face brings me nothing but sadness."

I looked back up to Dean and caught him staring. "You want to talk about it?" He asked, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Her name is Meg Masters." I slowly stated without realising, lifting my legs up and wrapping my arms around them. "She was a model on one art course I went to. At first it was a small crush I harboured. I'm not sure. It might have been just slight attraction." I licked my dry lips and glanced at Dean, who urged me to continue. "You can imagine my surprise when she approached me. I mean, back then I was so awkward. More than anything, I would panic near any woman and even at her I probably stared with pure horror." I laughed at the memory, still remembering that Meg had asked if I thought she was a demon or something, judging by my stare.

"Long story short, we hit it off. We started dating and eventually started living together. I was so happy with her." I took a short pause before continuing, trying to control my emotions. "Three years ago she just one day collected her stuff and disappeared, like she never had been there. All that was left of her was some lousy note saying that she loved me, but it was just too boring for her to live like this." I almost choked on my tears. I had thought Meg was thing in the past, but apparently I was wrong.

Suddenly Dean's warm hands wrapped around me, pulling me against his broad chest. "You can cry if you want to." He soothed, his other hand travelling up and down my arm while his jaw rested on my head. "I know it hurts, being left by someone you loved. Heck, I've been there myself!"

I nodded against his chest, snuggling a bit closer. "I just loved her so much, I still do." I sobbed and my fingers got hold of his t-shirt. "I've already admitted to myself that I didn't mean so much to her as she did to me, you know? I was some awkward virgin, of course I must have been boring to be around with."

"What are you talking about Cas?" Dean said, his voice cracking towards the end. "You're not boring to be with. Sure, you don't get the references I make and you're maybe bit odd, but those are the facts that you consist of. If she found you boring then she didn't deserve you." I felt Dean's arms tightening around me as he spoke in shaky voice. It made me smile.

We were silent for a minute or so before I opened my mouth. "Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" I commented, still not letting go of him even though my tears started to dry.

Dean chuckled, his hand lifting to my hair and playing with it. "I don't know, Mr Awkward Virgin." I look up to see a teasing grin on Dean's lips.

"Well I'm not the kind of guy girls get into." I pouted, to which Dean laughed. "What? It's proven by the fact that you have someone to sleep with almost every weekend while I spend my time painting and reading." I sighed and pushed my face back into Dean's chest to hide my blushing.

"I don't have someone to sleep with every weekend." Dean claimed, obviously understating the fact. I laughed against his chest, gaining a light smack to my head as a response. "Come on! I haven't gotten laid in three weeks and you should know that, considering that we hang out with each other every weekend. It's kind of exhausting."

I looked up again, tilting my head and staring at Dean with a questioning look. "How is that exhausting? I haven't gotten laid in ages." Dean's surprised look was rather amusing. His eyebrows shot up and he stared at me in a way that made obvious to me what he was thinking, but not daring to say out loud. "I haven't done it since Meg left me. You're making your thoughts obvious by the way. Oh, and did you know there was this amazing thing called masturbation?"

I finally pulled away and realised just how much my heart had been beating. At the same time I wanted to lean back to Dean as it had been so comfortable. I just wanted to be surrounded by his warmth and breathe in his amazing scent and I wanted him to kiss me. I didn't realise it before now how natural it felt in Dean's arms. We were just there and there was no need to think or really do anything. It just felt good.

Dean laughed, shaking his head. "I don't seriously get how you manage." Then he jumped up from the sofa and went to snatch my phone from the near table where I had left it before throwing it to me. "How about we order some pizza? I feel like staying inside and watching some movie with just the two of us."

"Sounds good."

* * *

**AN: I do apologize, because I was planning on finishing this chapter three days ago, but due to stuff, I kept pushing it forward. (It might have something to do with me, getting sick and having a Supernatural marathon I had with my sister)**

**Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter and see you in the next one.**


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't know what to do, Anna!" I sighed and took a sip of the drink in front of me.

Anna was sitting opposite of me, spinning a finger around the edge of her glass, containing her light red coloured and strawberry flavoured drink. I had already forgotten the name, but its taste was too sweet for me anyway. "I don't know Cassie. I think you should tell him." She muttered, leaning on her left hand. She took the glass to her lips, humming happily at the taste. "Honestly, though. I'm still mad that I heard about your crush from Gabe."

I nodded and shot down rest of my drink. "To be precise, I hadn't admitted the 'crush' to myself back then." It was yesterday that I had shown Dean my paintings and the first thing in the morning I did was call Anna and ask for her help. The original plan of having a private chat after closing up the restaurant had fallen after Gabriel had announced that we hadn't gone out in a long time so we were now at a bar few blocks away from my apartment.

"What we're talking about?" Gabriel questioned upon returning to the table we had taken over, setting a whole jug of- whatever it was on the table, but it certainly was very alcoholic. Balthazar soon followed him, setting four shot glasses on the table with a grin on his face.

Anna laughed, playing with her now empty glass. "Castiel finally admitted that he loves the guy who lives next door." She cheered and I honestly just wanted to bang my head to the table. I should have known not to say anything to slightly drunken Anna. She became so talkative after a few drinks. If she had been silver, my 'secret' would have been safe a little longer.

"Well that took you long enough." Balthazar sighed while pouring the mystery liquid into the shot glasses. "I was starting to wonder if you would keep yourself in the dark for the rest of your life!"

I frowned and took one of the shot glasses as soon as it was filled, taking it down with one go. "I'm not in love with him!" I scowled as I felt a slight burning across my cheeks. All three of them started laughing and the embarrassing feeling got worse, mixing with the alcohol taking over my head slowly. "I just- like him a lot, okay?"

I poured another shot to my glass from the jug, but drank that one too quickly, leaving me coughing. I found _love_ too strong word for what I was feeling, but it certainly wasn't only crush. That much I had admitted to myself after our good few minutes of 'cuddling'. "Anyway" Gabriel said loudly, his arm suddenly settling on my shoulders. "Let's be just happy that our Cassie here finally got someone after three fucking years. She was a bitch anyway." He toasted the small glass in my hands with his own before drinking down the shot.

"Gabriel!" Anna hissed over the table, sending a glare.

I smiled, taking the jug to fill my glass once more. "Gabriel's right, she was a-" I admitted and swallowed. "A bitch like he said." I took the glass again to my lips and after slightly hesitating, poured it down my throat. I grimaced at the burning in my throat before returning a smile to my lips and muttering "I think I'm starting to feel something."

* * *

'_Home, Anna's, Gabriel's, Balthazar's-'_ I recited in my mind as I fumbled with my keys to find the one for my apartment. I tried the one I suspected to be the right one, but the door wouldn't unlock. Leaning against the door I sighed and slid down to sit on the floor. Even though I had high alcohol tolerance, my brain wouldn't agree to work with me and after six tries of opening the fucking door, I felt like giving up.

I had sat there for few minutes, leaning on knees and eyes travelling on the weird stains on the ceiling when the door next to mine opened with a bang. It was Dean's door to be precise. A woman with black wavy hair rushed out, turning on her five inch heels back towards the apartment. "I can't believe you!" She yelled before heading towards the elevator.

"Ellie! Wait!" Dean ran to the doorway. My eyes widened, seeing his crumbled button-up shirt open, revealing his well-toned upper body, along with his jeans that were still half-open. "I can explain!"

The woman, Ellie, stopped, turning around to face Dean with annoyance all over her face. "It's Emily, you Jerk." She growled and set her hands on her waist. "I don't need to hear your explanations. It's enough that you had the nerve to call another woman while in bed, but to actually remember my name wrong _twice_?!" She rolled her warm brown eyes before stepping into the just-arrived elevator. "For your sake, I hope we won't see each other again. Ever."

With that, she disappeared and frustrated groan escaped his lips. Lips that I couldn't help but stare and I swore they were much pinker than usually. I couldn't help but wonder if they were like that because of all the kissing they had been doing or had the woman's lipstick just stuck on his perfectly firm lips. Either way, it looked great and I licked my own chapped lips while thinking how great it would feel to kiss him again. "So, what did you mess up?" I finally said out loud before I even realised it.

Dean turned around and I quickly shifted my gaze to his eyes before he would notice I was staring at his lips. "Cas," He uttered my name so softly that I felt my lips automatically tug into a small smile. "What are you doing there?"

I shrugged, trying to resist the urge to stare at his lips the best I could. "It's kind of nice down here. Plus, I couldn't open my door." I stumbled up with the help of a hand that Dean had offered, wobbling a bit as I got to my feet. "I might have taken one shot too many." I laughed, finally steadying my weight.

Dean chuckled and took the keys off my hand, trying each of them on the lock until the fifth one worked. "Here you go." He mumbled, pushing the door open for me.

"Thanks." I nodded. I took the keys to my hand, playing with them absentmindedly as I thought about Anna's words before opening my mouth again. "Uh- would you like to come over for coffee or something?" I asked, hoping that I my speech wasn't too slurred. I immediately shot my eyes up from my hands, slight panic bubbling inside. "N-Not that you have to if you don't want to! I-I mean, I must be pretty annoying."

"I'd love to." He said, shutting his apartment's door quickly before heading into my apartment.

About ten minutes later we were both curled up at our own ends of the sofa, drinking coffee even though it was 3 am. "Care to tell me what that thing with 'Ellie' was?" I asked, grinning into the mug. "I recall she said something about calling another woman's name in bed?"

Dean's cheeks took a red colour and he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Ah, well-" He sighed as his eyes drew away from my face. "What is there left to explain. We were into it and I sort-of-accidentally called another name." He glanced at my expectant face before looking down to his mug and blushing madly.

I slid closer to him, small hope sparking in my mind. "Dean, can I say something?" I whispered, setting down the mug on the near table. He nodded slowly, a puzzled look all over his face. My eyes fell to his lips that were tightened to a thin line and I licked my own again, only barely managing not to kiss him right there and now. "Dean I-" I breathed out, crawling closer and there was only bit over a feet between us. "I think I have feelings for you."

I noticed Dean swallowing and his lips parted slightly. "Feelings as in- Romantic?" I nodded, my eyes never leaving his lips. I was sure I couldn't keep resisting much longer as our gap just kept getting smaller. "I thought you were straight?" He questioned as my gaze finally tore away from his lips-

"I'm not sure anymore." The final straw broke and before I knew it, we were kissing. Soon I was on my back and Dean was hungrily devouring me, pushing me into the sofa. My arms slid around his neck and pulled him closer to me desperately. "Dean" I moaned his name as our mouths separated only for a second. Dean reclaimed my mouth back as soon as he had breathed some air to his lungs and I let him take the lead completely.

I didn't know how much time had passed as our lips parted, but both of us were out of breath when we did. "Th-That was amazing." Dean admitted as a satisfied grin spread to his face. "You can't believe how long I have wanted to do that." He kissed me once more, this time it was just a light peck, but it made me just as happy.

"Really?" I chuckled while tilting my head slightly.

Dean moved to place soft kisses on my neck. "Yeah. I have probably been into you since you moved in four months ago. Sammy thought I was being stalkerish because I kept staring at you." His breath against my skin sent shivers down my spine and I threaded my fingers to Dean's hair.

He lifted his head from the crook of my neck and smiled at me. "At least you didn't deny your feelings for the whole four months." I sighed and leaned in to plant a shy kiss on his lips. Dean laughed and rolled me on top of him. As I shot a confused stare at him he answered something that he didn't want to crush me and pulled my head against his chest. "Whose name did you call? With 'Ellie'?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Your heart is beating quite fast." I muttered.

"That's because we just made out, which I have been fantasizing about for weeks, and now you're on top of me." Dean admitted, sneaking his other hand to my waist.

"Oh" I settled comfortably against Dean's chest and before I had realised it, I fell asleep.

* * *

In the morning I woke up in bed that was warmer than usually. Two hands were settled on my waist and in my sleep I had snuggled against the broad chest of Dean. Our feet were tangled together and I was really comfortable in my position. I hadn't noticed before, but Dean had a pentagram tattoo on his chest, simple but pretty cool looking. I leaned to kiss it jokingly. "Oh, morning angel." I heard Dean say and lifted my head, seeing him gazing at me.

I narrowed my eyes, looking at Dean's green ones. "Why are you staring at me?" I asked, my was dry so my voice came out kind of hoarse. "Your brother might be right about your stalkerish tendencies after all." I joked before reaching for a kiss.

Dean answered to the kiss as he slid his other hand up along my side and cupped my chin with it. "I was just wondering if you would freak out after waking up. You were drunk yesterday after all." He answered after breaking our kiss. Our lips still lingered few inches away from each other as we breathed each other's air.

"Sorry, I'm not regretting this at all." I answered before pulling away. As I threw the sheets from on top of me, I realised I was only in my underwear. "Dean, did you undress me last night?" I asked as I didn't recall taking my clothes off at any point.

Dean crawled to me and hugged me from behind while kissing my shoulder. "I swear I didn't do anything. I just thought you would be more comfortable like that."

I kissed him one last time before getting out of the bed and snatching myself clean t-shirt and sweats. I even put on my glasses on, not caring to make myself look presentable first thing in the morning. "I'll go make us some breakfast. Just try to get up soon." I said to Dean, who kept staring at me from the bed, before sneaking out of my bedroom.

I frowned when I noticed my fridge pretty much empty. I thought I could quickly run to the nearest store, but I didn't feel like it. Being as lazy as I was, the breakfast was going to consist of the last of my coffee and toast as I still had some bread left.

While waiting for the breads to jump out of the toaster, I heard the front door open and close. I was quite sure it wasn't Dean because he would have said something before leaving and I never heard my bedroom door opening. "Balthazar, is that you?" I called to the silence. When no answer came, I sneaked to the kitchen door and peeked out, only to see dark haired woman standing at the door. Beside her was a huge suitcase and she was smiling on the sight of me.

"It's been a while, Castiel."

* * *

**AN: I'm sorry if I wrote something unrealistically in this chapter. I'm not exactly experienced with alcohols, so I don't exactly know how it feels to be drunk or how much alcohol is too much. At most I've drank half a bottle of champagne in four hours or so, but that didn't really get me drunk.**

**Anyway, the next chapter is probably last one for this story. I'll start another Destiel story after that and also keep writing my other one, because it's an obsession of mine at the moment, and I have quite many ideas in my head. However, I've also been thinking if should write a sequel for this verse, as I'm already grown quite fond of it and I didn't unfortunately get to write much about Dean's and Cas' pasts in this one. I'm willing to hear opinions from you guys on if you want to read more of this and on what you would like to see in the possible sequel. Should I write sex in it? Or chapters from Dean's pov? Something else? I'm honestly open to any suggestions.**

**Anyway, see you in the next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: ****I'm so sorry that it took so long with this chapter! I was out of town so I didn't exactly manage to write anything, since I don't own a laptop.**

**Anyway, it's the last chapter! (Yay?) I hope you did enjoy reading this as much I did enjoy writing this. But the sequel is still going to happen! I should warn you that it will have mature content in it and will focus more on both Dean and Cas' pasts. Neither of which are happy**

**Edit: The sequel is now up and going and you can find it from my profile under the name 'Faded Wings'**

* * *

Meg took steps forward, practically throwing herself into my arms. "I've missed you Clarence" She said, snuggling against me.

My mouth gapped open in confusion, no words coming out of my mouth. My quivering hands lifted to her shoulders and pushed her further away. I examined her face, my eyes narrowing, wondering how the hell she was standing in front of me. "M-Meg," I muttered, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, frowning a bit before she leaned back towards me, pushing her lips against mine. For a moment I gave in to her, moved against the kiss out of _really_ old habit kicking in. Still it felt different, different from how it felt all those years ago or different from how fucking good it had felt with Dean. It just didn't feel right. As she finally pulled away, all I could hear was a small 'oh' that didn't leave from neither mine nor Meg's lips. It was close to just a breath, but the broken heart in that voice bit into me painfully.

"I get it." Dean whispered bitterly, his hands clenching on his sides. "I should have known, of course yesterday was just drunken talk for you." He refused to look me in the eye, despite my desperate calls of his name, begging him to look at me. "Great, just great. I seriously considered you my friend and would have kept it that way despite my feelings because you were straight. There was no fucking need to play with my feelings." He finally looked to me, but the tenderness that was there yesterday was all gone. "See you later, Castiel."

Part of me wanted to hear him call me 'Cas' one more time. 'Castiel' didn't seem normal coming from his mouth, especially how he just spit it out. The moment my front door closed behind Dean seemed so final and I knew that no matter how much I would beg him right now, he wouldn't listen. All I could do was to sink into that stupid sofa of mine and hide my face in my hands. "I'm sorry but since when did you become gay?" Meg laughed as she threw herself on the sofa, her feet now poking at my side.

I lifted my head slowly and shot her a really long and angry glare. "None of your business. Why the hell are you back?" I hissed. "Last time I checked I was a boring lover and you couldn't stay sane if you stayed here."

Meg played with her dark curls, ignoring my annoyance completely. "It's not like it was the first time I had just ran off randomly. I always came back in the end."

"Well isn't it kind of different when you just took off for three years with all your stuff and left behind a note saying you wouldn't come back." I sighed and lifted my legs against my chest. "Even if I would take you back, I know you would soon enough run away again and I don't think I could take it anymore. I barely survived last time with the help of Anna, Gabriel and Balthazar, but-"

"I get it Cassie." Meg interrupted, dragging herself closer to me. "I'm not your unicorn and I'm fine with it. All I'm asking for is for you to let me stay here for a while, only until I get my own place."

* * *

Two weeks passed like a blur. Dean wouldn't even look at me when we passed on the hallways and even if his eyes would meet mine for a second, they would be filled with disgust. The first few times I had tried to get him to listen to me, but he had decided to ignore me completely. Eventually I resorted to keeping my head down if I saw him, choking on my tears quietly.

"Come on Cassie, I want you to see the place with me. I need your opinion!"

I reluctantly followed behind Meg as she stepped into the hallway. She had insisted that I would have to help her on choosing the right apartment for her, taking me away from the painting I was working on. To be precise, the one for the gallery opening next week. "You have already dragged me to so many apartments! How come any of them isn't okay with you?" I questioned, pulling my tan trench coat on. "Sometimes I wonder if you even want to leave my place at all!"

She spun around on her heels and rolled her eyes at me with a huge sigh. "Obviously not!" I shook my head and lifted my arms across my chest. "Besides, it's not my fault we can't find a decent place that I could afford." The life with Meg living at my place had been really different from it used to be. It actually might have something to do with the fact that I refused to sleep in bed with her, no matter how much she begged, so I ended up sleeping on the sofa. Not to mention that she tried to seduce me every opportunity she would get. I still resisted, even though we both knew we still had feelings for each other.

"Well, maybe it would help that you would get a job." She laughed at my frown and slipped her arm around mine.

I tried to nudge my hand away, but she had a firm hold on it. "Meg, let go of my arm." I frowned as I turned my head towards her. I pushed the elevator button before I took my other hand to hers, trying to twist her fingers off. "I'm being serious. I don't want you hanging from my arm."

The elevator arrived then with that 'ding' noise and the opening doors revealed Dean inside. His eyes opening wide as he saw me and Meg. For that one moment, it wasn't hatred or disgust that filled Dean's eyes. It was definitely sadness. Those impossibly green eyes of his that were glued to where Meg's hand connected with mine and he bit his lip before his eyes fell to the ground and he passed us very quickly.

That look gave me slight hope. Maybe I could actually convince Dean that I actually liked him and that one morning was one big misunderstanding. Maybe Dean would actually want to be with me and would believe that I didn't want to be with Meg anymore because I was already falling for Dean. I started to believe that maybe if I would give him some more time, we could maybe try again.

"Clarence?" Meg called me, looking at my face with kind of worried expression. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Everything is great."

* * *

Another week passed and it was the night of the gallery opening. The whole place was filled with people, all dressed in expensive clothing. I had heard from Balthazar that this whole gallery was built with rich art lovers' donations, so a lot of important people had been invited. This fact had made me really nervous, considering that this was the first time in almost a year that I had my work in a gallery and that this time the work was really personal.

I was rather glad that people seemed to like my work, or at least there was quite a bit of people around the place my painting was at. "Castiel!" I heard Balthazar call for me and I turned around to face him. "I've already had four offers for your painting and something tells me there will be more." He told me, his face full of excitement.

My eyes widened in surprise. I wouldn't have wondered if there had been only one offer, but to actually have four. "Are you serious Balthazar?" I exclaimed, gripping my glass of sparkling wine bit too tightly. "I mean, I wasn't even sure I would be willing to sell it, since, you know." I muttered, nudging my head towards the painting, my fifth version of Dean. His face was angled downwards, his lips were turned into a small smile, the one that showed in the crinkles in the corners of his eyes. Of course, his eyes were the bright green colour, which I had done my best to achieve. His outlines were covered in bright colours, contrasting to the light skin and hair colours I had decided to use.

Balthazar nodded and I swear for a second there, I saw that knowing smirk on his face. "Well you have the whole night to think about. Just tell me later if you've decided to sell. If you don't, I'll just tell them there was someone who offered more." After that, Balthazar returned to the other guests, leaving me all alone. I wasn't that good at socializing anyway, so I decided to stay leaning against a wall and just eye the people moving past me.

After two hours I had socialized and smiled so much that my head ached and cheeks hurt. I had retreated to a corner chair all by myself when Balthazar found me again. I couldn't help but notice the darkening skin on his neck when he walked to me in a way that almost resembled skipping. "I have the highest offer." He said and waved a paper in his hands. "There was this guy who was rather keen on buying your painting. I'm not that surprised why."

He handed me the paper with a rather nice sum of money written on it. What however took my attention was the name of the buyer. _"Dean Winchester"_ was written in rather clean handwriting and I felt my jaw drop as much as it could. I moved my eyes to Balthazar, who now most definitely had that knowing smirk on him. "W-What- How?" I slowly muttered as I crumbled the paper in my hands.

"I sort of sent him an invitation to this thing. I didn't know if he was coming, I just simply made it a possibility." Balthazar shrugged and he lifted his hand to my shoulder to rub it lightly. "Cassie, you've been a fucking mess for these three weeks. I just figured I should do something to make you feel better. You should have seen his face upon seeing that painting. I could really tell from his smile that he likes you, a lot."

I nodded, barely managing to speak from my confusion. "Wh-where is he right now?" I spoke quietly and my eyes travelled across the room, scanning the faces that were still in the gallery, but I didn't find Dean.

"He left a few moments ago. Told me to call him if you decided to sell the painting."

I glanced at Balthazar, who motioned for me to go. "I'll see you later." I started running, I had to catch up to Dean. I had to confirm it myself. As if the name on the paper wasn't enough. No, it certainly wasn't enough. I had to hear it from his mouth right at that moment. I saw the Impala, standing at the side of the road, her shining black surface glistening from the freshly stopped rain. However, Dean was still nowhere to be seen.

I walked closer to the Impala and I swiped water drops on the roof with my hand. The water felt cold against my skin, but I didn't care. My hand lingered still on the metal as my fingertips pressed against it until they left prints. It started raining again. Small droplets fell on me, but I didn't move. I just waited.

I stood there, my hand on Impala for 13 minutes in total before Dean came, a plastic bag hooked in his fingers. "Cas," He breathed out and walked to the trunk and threw the plastic bag there. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He questioned sharply, but I just stared. I was a freaking idiot. How I could have actually thought Dean would want me. The boring, awkward me. "How long have you been waiting here? Your jacket is drenched." His tone was softer this time, caring even.

I lifted my hand and wiped the wet fingers to my skinny jeans. "Ten minutes or so." I said as my gaze fell to the ground. "I didn't notice the rain getting harder." I shivered in the rain and wind that chilled me and tucked my hands to my armpits.

I heard the door open and close. I bit my lip as desperate tears rolled down my face. A small whine left my lips and I felt like crouching to the ground, but I didn't do it. I kept standing, I would let all fall down when that beautiful car would drive off. I would let myself break.

It was strange. I never thought I could feel this miserable again. Not after what Meg did.

I flinched when I heard the door open again. "Come in the car. It must be freezing for you." Dean said, his voice showing the slightest sound of nervousness. I raised my head and saw Dean biting his lip with a desperate look on his eyes. "I-I don't want you to catch a cold."

I nodded and I just knew my eyes were wide with surprise. I slipped in, sitting as close to the door as possible because I was afraid of getting too close to Dean. "Th-Thank you." I muttered through my shaking teeth.

The silence that fell between us after that was so much more than just awkward. The air was so tense between us and neither was willing to speak first. I eventually moved to listen the soothing rumble of Impala's engine and my eyelids wanted to close involuntary. When I listened closely, I could hear Dean humming a song slightly off key, but I was pretty sure it was 'Hey Jude'.

* * *

"Cas?"

I woke to a familiar voice calling me, repeating the first three letters of my name. I smiled to myself and managed to open my eyes half-way. "Dean?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. I crawled slightly closer and traced my fingers through my hair. "Are we at home?"

Dean licked his lips and nodded. " Y-Yeah." He said it so quietly I barely heard it. He hesitated for a second and his teeth bit into his lower lip. "You already heard from the friend of yours, right?" He whispered, his impossibly green eyes meeting mine. "Is that why you were waiting for me?"

I swallowed and looked away, but I still could feel Dean's gaze on my skin. "Yes." I agreed and my hand wavered towards his. "Dean, I just want to say I'm sorry." My whole body trembled and I didn't know whether it was because of my wet clothes or the nervous feeling spreading inside me. "M-Meg is leaving my place in a week and I swear I didn't do anything with her, so-" My other hand's fingers fumbled my shirt's hem.

"Cas, I believe you." Dean interrupted me. "I know I jumped to conclusions and I do apologise for my reaction. I should have listened to your explanation." Dean lifted his hand to my cheek and rubbed his thumb on my face. I leaned into the touch without realising, enjoying the warmth of Dean's hand. "I didn't originally plan on coming to the gallery opening when I saw your name amongst the artists. Still I found myself there, staring at that portrait you made." He pushed his forehead against mine and a small smile crept to the corner of my mouth. "All the feelings I saw through it. It made me regret that I stopped talking to you. Then that friend of yours came up to me and he yelled at me so much because of 'hurting your freaking feelings and making you worse than you were after Meg left'."

I probably went completely red. I hadn't realised I was so depressed, but it was worse that now when Dean knew about it. "S-Sorry about him. Balthazar can be pretty protective over me." I muttered.

Dean shook his head, laughing. "Don't be. He made me realise how stupid I was and-" He breathed in and out. I wasn't sure due to poor lighting, but I thought I saw a hint of red on Dean's face. "How much you mean to me." He whispered.

Suddenly all my reason flew out of the window as I pushed my lips against Dean's and kissed him slowly, passionately. Dean soon leaned in, his hand sliding down to my waist, which he used to pull me closer. "If it means anything to you, you mean a lot to me." I muttered once our lips parted.

"I'm glad."

"What about now?" I asked the question that lingered between us. "Are we getting together or something?"

Dean frowned as he leaned back slightly. "I guess. Maybe we should just start from a clean table. Go on dates and start getting to know each other better." My heart jumped as Dean flashed his teeth with a kind smile. Honestly, I would have never imagined myself ending up on dates with my pretty-face neighbour, but the idea of it made me want to kiss Dean's face over and over.

"I would like that." I hummed as I kept staring at the green eyes, the same eyes that probably sparked my feelings towards Dean. They were the eyes which light I so much wanted to save on canvas.


End file.
